Highlights from our previous Beatles Memorabilia Auctions

Press Release 19th February 2017:
A Porsche 928 owned by George Harrison for 4 years from new is one of the star lots in Omega Auctions Beatles Auction on 17th March 2017. Harrison, who purchased the car in 1980, drove it routinely when he lived in Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The vehicle is presently owned by Raj Sedha, from Leeds, who bought it for spares in 2003. Sedha was not knowledgeable about the car’s history. Information of its famous former owner only came to light after Mr Sedha’s wife read Harrison’s name in the logbook. “It didn’t click with me. She said it is George Harrison’s,” said Mr Sedha. “I said, ‘That’s who the man who I bought it off said. Who is he?’ “She said, ‘He’s the Beatle. You can’t take the car apart for spares.'” The car is rare due to the stitching on its interior leather is entirely black.

Typically the model features a combination of either black and red or black and cream stitching. Auctioneer Paul Fairweather stated: “For anybody that’s into cars and The Beatles, this is a must-have. “The 928 is an absolute classic and the fact that it was owned by George for four years from new will ensure that it roars off the auction block.”

George Harrison (1943 – 2001) was a fan of motor racing and possessed few fast cars during his life. The car sold for £43,500

Press Release 7th February 2017:Previously unseen footage of The Beatles playing in Montreal during their first tour of North American found lying in a drawer after 52 years.

The colour cine footage from their Montreal performance on 8th September 1964, was filmed by the father of one the “The Four Frenchmen”, who were one of the opening acts for the show and is the only known recoding from the gig.

The ten minute long recording shows the heavy police presence, which had been enhanced due to reported death threats received by Ringo Starr, back stage scenes of the fab four, footage of the supporting acts, the Beatles performance and subsequent press conference.

The 8mm tape was discovered by the camera man’s grandson, Ron Notarangelo, after his grandfather recently passed away and is expected to sell for over £10,000 when it comes up for sale (with full copyright) as part of Omega Auctions annual Beatles Auction next month.

According to auctioneer, Paul Fairweather “this is an incredible find of great historical importance as there is no known footage from this performance, together with the fact that it is so clear and in colour, which is rare for the early 60s.”

Highlights from our previous Beatles Memorabilia Auctions

We had some fabulous items in this sale including the 'holy grail' demo record as reported on BBC:

THE RECORD THAT LAUNCHED THE BEATLES

One of the rarest and most collectable of all Beatles records is expected to sell for over £10,000 when it comes up for sale next month. The unique ten-inch 78RPM acetate record featuring ‘Hello Little Girl’ on one side and ‘Till There Was You’ on the other was cut at the HMV record store on Oxford St London before being presented by the group’s manager Brian Epstein to George Martin (EMI) in his desperate attempt to get them a recording contract. This meeting, despite Martin’s initial reticence, was to eventually lead to the breakthrough they were looking for.

In his book Tune In, the leading Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn said of the disc, ‘Its uniqueness is enhanced by Brian Epstein’s handwriting on the labels, and the recognition of what it led to – making it one of the rarest and most collectable of all Beatles records.’

According to Ian Shirley, Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide Editor “This is one of those Holy Grail items like the original Quarrymen acetate that the band recorded themselves. This acetate is a unique item that, in many respects, helped Brain Epstein to start the ball rolling to musical world domination. It will fascinate Beatles collectors worldwide and no doubt attract bids from those with deep pockets.”

The record is being sold by Omega Auctions of Warrington on behalf of Les Maguire of Gerry and the Pacemakers. He was given it by Brian Epstein in 1963 after the disc had been returned to him by George Martin. This is the first time it has come to the marketplace, having been locked away in Maguire’s loft until now.

Highlights from our previous Beatles Memorabilia Auctions

On the 20th March 1964 The Beatles released Can't Buy Me Love and in the second of our Beatles Anniversary Auctions, we marked the 50th anniversary of the release with a one off auction for Beatles collectors worldwide. The auction, which took place on the 50th anniversary, 20th March 2014, contained a large collection of rare vinyl and memorabilia with items to suit all budgets, so Beatles collectors everywhere could get involved.

As well as it being a live auction where collectors can bid in person, the sale was broadcast live over the internet so that collectors could bid from anywhere in the world.

A piano over 100 years old, used by John Lennon and Paul McCartney whilst filming Help! in 1965 is to be sold. The 1907 Bechstein Concert Grand piano was situated in Twickenham studios from around the 1930's up until its purchase from the studio by film director, Richard Lester in the late 1960’s. It has undoubtedly been used by a number of important stars of stage and film but most significantly it was used by Lennon and McCartney during the filming of Help!, making it a fantastic piece of Beatles history.

82 year old Lester, was one of the most influential directors of the 1960s, directing The Beatles first film ‘A Hard Days Night’, ‘Help!’ and Superman during the 1980s amongst others. Lester recalls "When the film was being written under the imaginative working title 'Beatles Two', the writers and I wanted to call it 'Help'. Unfortunately, we were informed by copyright lawyers that someone else had registered that title, so Ringo helpfully offered 'Eight Arms to Hold You' (relating to the multi-armed statue in the script). Needless to say there wasn't a huge amount of enthusiasm to write that title song, but we carried on until it came close to shooting the title sequence for the film. Another desperate phone call to the lawyers resulted but fortunately we were informed that if we added an exclamation mark (!) we could use this as a title so the film arrived at its new title ‘HELP!’. Once we received this news we immediately arranged a meeting with The Beatles and the crew to inform them and set them to the task of writing a song to go with the title. They started on this immediately at the studio using the Bechstein piano and continued working on it on their car journey home and throughout that evening. The next morning they arrived at the studio with the track ready to show us and promptly played it on the piano a number of times. When we heard the song, we knew it was right and I think it was shortly after that they went into Abbey Road and recorded the song and the rest is history."

Lester continues "Later on, when coming to the end of the shooting of the film, Paul was spending a lot of time at the piano composing and fine tuning “Yesterday” or the “Scrambled Eggs” song as it was originally entitled by Paul. He was playing it that much that I actually threatened to remove the piano off the set if he didn’t finish the song soon and give it a rest. When it was released in August 1965 Paul actually sent me a copy with a note attached saying “I’m glad you didn’t take the piano away – hope you like the “Scrambled Eggs” song now!”.

The piano which expected to sell for over £50,000 is part of an auction of over 200 lots of rare Beatles memorabilia and vinyl records to be hosted by Omega Auctions on 20th March 2014 at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles number one hit “Can’t Buy Me Love”.

Press Release 9th February 2014 - RARE BEATLES JACKETS UNDER THE HAMMER
Rare jackets worn by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in the filming of The Beatles 1965 film Help! are to go up for sale. The comedy adventure, directed by Richard Lester, sees the group come up against an evil cult and fleeing to the Austrian Alps to seek refuge. The jackets which were worn throughout the five days of filming in the Alps and also feature on the iconic album cover of the soundtrack, are expected to sell for in excess of £50,000.

The jackets have come from Lester’s private collection. The 82 year old, was one of the most influential directors of the 1960s, directing The Beatles first film ‘A Hard Days Night’, ‘Help!’ and Superman during the 1980s amongst others.

Auctioneer Paul Fairweather says “as Beatles clothing goes these have got to be amongst the Holy Grail for any Beatles collector. They feature on one of their most recognisable album covers and I have a feeling these could really fly off the block!”. Fairweather continues “the coats are tailored and very stylish and if I had the money to afford them I would wear them without hesitation.”

The sale is part of an auction of over 200 lots of rare Beatles memorabilia and vinyl records to be hosted by Omega Auctions on 20th March 2014 at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles number one hit “Can’t Buy Me Love”.